Improved metallic defensive armor for ships



"o oooooo I gage@ ooo E P 1||-| ooo oo ou fw [E E] w. lill/Gufo]W//Qd/a/a N, PETERS. FlmLlTHOAPNER. WASNIWTON. D (L UNITED -ST1-friesParitair @risica YVILLIAM BALLARD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED METALLIC DEFENSBVE ARMOR FOR SHIPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,665, dated June 24,1862.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM BALLARD, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Constructionand Armament of Vessels of XVar; and I do heredy declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspeciteation, in which- Figure l is an elevation of part of the side ofa vessel illustrating myinvention. Fig. 2 is a plan view correspondingwith Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of the vessel.AFig. i is a horizontal section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

This invention consists in a certain novel construction of the frame ofand mode of applying armor to vessels, whereby great strength and powerof resisting t-he impact of the projectiles is obtained, and the armor,instead ol' weakening, is made to strengthen the vessel.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

The framing of the vessel is represented as composed of frames A A, ofheavy wrought bar or plate iron, and interposed frames B B, of timber,made severally in the Various forms required for the transverse sectionof the vessel at different points in its length, and preferably of suchform as to present an inclined face above the water-line. rIhe ironframes A A are arranged with their edges toward and from the interiorand exterior of the vessel, and the interposed wooden frames B Bentirely iill the spaces between them.

The iron and wooden frames may be bolted or otherwise secured togetherin pairs (one oi each) before being set up to form the vessel, or eachwooden frame may have an iron one bolted to each side of it before beingset up. As the several frames are set up one after another they may besecured together by bolting in any suitable manner, or by short platesof iron c a notched into the outer edges ofthe frames and boltedthereto, as shown 'in Fig.

l. This framing may be covered with wooden planking G G from the keel upto such distance below the water line as it is desired to commence thearmor; but the armor may be applied directly to the framing without aplanking of wood.

The armor is composed of several layers of plates or ilat bars of ironof the same or of different thickness, making in the aggregate thethickness required for eliicient protection. In the example representedAthere are four layers of iron, C D E F, three of which, C D E, are inthe form of broad iiat bars, and the outer one, F, in the form of platesof as large size as can be conveniently rolled or forged. In the firstlayer the bars C C are arranged lengthwise of the vessel and bolted tothel framing A B. In the second and third layers the bars D D and E Eare applied diagonally to cross each other, those of one layer runningin one and those of the other in the reverse direction diagonally to thebars C C, and each bar is bolted separately at as many points as may bedesired through the bar or bars behind it and to the frame. The outerlayer of plates, F F, is bolted through all the bars C C D D E Eandthrough the frames. The number of layers of diagonal bars may beincreased, if desirable, each layer crossing the one behind it. By thisconstruction of the armor the armor is made to brace the framing, bothdiagonally and horizontally, and the several layers of the armor aremade to brace each other, while by the construction of the frame of woodand iron, as desired, great strength is Obtained.

The inside of the frame is planked in the lusual manner, as .shown at HH in Fig. 3, to

form what is known as the ceiling7 or inner skin77 of the vessel; butbetween the portholes K K, I propose to construct inside of the` vesselsolid buttresses I I of timber, as shown in Fig. 2, tapering the sidesofthese buttresses like the embrasures of forts. rIhe ports J which Iemploy are fitted to slide up anddown over the por.t-holes, and are madeof iron of a V forni in their transverse section, as shown in Figs. land4, and are beveled at top and bottom, as shown at the bot` toni of theport in Fig. 1, so that a projectile 2 Y I l 35,665

I strikingthem will not be very liable'to strike barsor plates D D and EE, and coveringplaltes F F, substantially as and for the purthemperpendicularly to their surface.

What-I claim as my invention, and desire l pose herein specified. tosecure by Letters Patent, is ,e

The combination of iron frames A A, interposed wooden'frames'B B,.longitudinal covering bers or plates CVC, reversed diagonal Witnesses:

. R. GAWLEY., i I. W; COOMBs. r

^ WM. BALLARD.

